FORT MYERS, Fla. _ ByungHo Park, the most impressive player in Twins spring training, will start the season in the minor leagues.
In a surprise move, the Twins revealed Thursday they will keep 13 pitchers on the roster and Park will begin his season in Class AAA Rochester.
Park has a .353 average with a team-leading six home runs and 13 RBIs in exhibition games.
Twins players were shocked as news of Park's departure swept the clubhouse Thursday. Park, after initially looking stunned upon leaving manager Paul Molitor's office, was confident as he spoke to reporters.
"It's a bitter news, but I'm not disappointed," Park said through an interpreter. "I know what I do here. My mind-set when I started this spring training camp, I know what I can do. My goal is the same. I know I can do it, wherever I start."
Molitor walked over to Park's stall to offer more words of encouragement.
"He encouraged me to keep doing what I have been doing here at spring training camp and he trusts me that I can do it," Park said. "It was a good pep talk."
Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey said the team began considering switching to a 13-man staff in recent days as concerns about pitchers were raised. Adalberto Mejia, who won the fifth spot in the rotation, is a rookie. Starter Hector Santiago might not be ready to pitch deep into games since he missed two weeks to participate in the World Baseball Classic. And Phil Hughes, who is coming off thoracic outlet surgery, might not be ready for long outings, either.
The Twins decided that having an extra arm available would be prudent.
"We felt there could be some benefit to having the additional guy in the bullpen," Falvey said. "It wasn't that Park was necessarily beat out at his position, it was that we decided to go with a different roster configuration. Our message to ByungHo was that he continue to progress down the path he's going down. We're confident we're going to need more than 25 during the course of the season."
